Emergency Housing Vouchers: who got them and what happens now

You can't get a new Emergency Housing Voucher: housing offices stopped giving them out in 2025, and the program ends on December 31, 2026. If you were renting a home with one on September 30, 2026, you can stay in your home. Your housing office switches you to a regular Section 8 voucher, which pays part of your rent to your landlord.

Can you still get an Emergency Housing Voucher?

No. Two things closed the program to new families.

First, under the 2021 law that created the program, when a family left the program after September 30, 2023, the housing authority (the local housing office) couldn't give that voucher to a new family. Second, in March 2025, HUD, the federal housing department, told housing offices to stop giving Emergency Housing Vouchers to any new family. Families who already had a voucher in hand could keep looking for a home.

There is no list to join. If a website, a social media post or a person says you can still sign up for one, it isn't true. Don't pay anyone or share your details; ask your local housing office instead.

What was the Emergency Housing Voucher program?

The Emergency Housing Voucher program was a one-time federal program that gave about 70,000 vouchers to local housing offices. An Emergency Housing Voucher worked like a Section 8 voucher: you rented from a private landlord, you paid part of the rent, and the housing office paid the rest.

The vouchers were for people who were:

• homeless;
• at risk of becoming homeless;
• fleeing domestic violence, dating violence, sexual assault, stalking or human trafficking;
• formerly homeless and likely to become homeless again without a voucher.

You couldn't apply to the housing office yourself. Housing offices took referrals only from the local homeless services network, called the Continuum of Care, and from programs that help people fleeing violence. They didn't take names from their regular Section 8 waitlist, the list of people waiting for a voucher.

Why is the program ending?

The money wouldn't last as long as planned. HUD told housing offices that the remaining money would likely cover families only through most of 2026. Then, on September 2, 2026, a federal funding law let HUD move every family still using an Emergency Housing Voucher to a regular voucher instead. HUD's September 29, 2026 notice sets out how:

What happens if you have an Emergency Housing Voucher now?

If you were renting a home with an Emergency Housing Voucher on September 30, 2026, your housing office switches you to a regular voucher by the end of December 2026. HUD calls it an EHV-TPV: EHV stands for Emergency Housing Voucher and TPV for tenant protection voucher. It is part of the Housing Choice Voucher program, the official name for Section 8. Under HUD's notice:

• You don't go on a waitlist and you aren't screened again.
• You can stay in your home.
• Your housing office's usual rules for regular vouchers apply. That includes the voucher limit for your area, officially the payment standard: the highest rent plus utilities a home can have while you pay only about 30% of your income.
• If you leave the program, the voucher ends; the housing office can't give it to another family.

Some housing offices moved families onto their own regular vouchers before November 1, 2026 instead. Either way, call your housing office and ask: "Which kind of voucher am I on now, and does anything change in what I pay?"

HUD's notice covers families with a signed lease on September 30, 2026. If you had an Emergency Housing Voucher but were still looking for a home then, call your housing office right away and ask what happens to your voucher.

After December 2026, HUD plans to keep paying for these vouchers like other vouchers, but only if Congress approves the money each year.

What can you do if you need help now?

You can't get a new Emergency Housing Voucher, but these still work:

1. Call your local homeless services office. HUD lists the contact for each area on its homeless help page. They know about shelter beds, rent help and any voucher referrals in your area. If you are homeless and have a disability, ask them about permanent supportive housing. You can also call 2-1-1, a free helpline.
2. If you are fleeing violence, call the National Domestic Violence Hotline at 800-799-7233, any time.
3. Join every open Section 8 and public housing waitlist you qualify for. Public housing means apartments the housing office owns and rents out. Area-wide waitlists are lists for a whole city or county, run by a housing office; find the ones near you on our waitlists page. Lists open for short windows, so check for open Section 8 waitlists often.
4. Look for a homelessness preference. Some listings on our listings page put people who are homeless first. The rules differ by listing, so read each one.
5. If you are a veteran, the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs can refer you for HUD-VASH, a separate voucher for homeless veterans.

To see which lower-rent apartments fit your household size and income, use the qualify check.